Urgent action needed to improve farm safety

The number of people losing their lives from on-farm incidents has significantly decreased in the past 25 years but there is more work to be done to make farms safer.

This is the message from the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) and Farmsafe Australia at the start of Farm Safety Week 2017.

Farmsafe Australia Chair and NFF’s Workplace Committee Chair, Charles Armstrong said the yearly average of lives lost from farm incidents had decreased from 146 in 1991 to 63 in 2016.

“However, one life lost is one too many, and we must all take greater responsibility for improving the safety of our farms.

“Already, as of 30 June, we have seen 32 tragic deaths resulting from injuries sustained in quad bike and farm machinery incidents*.”
"We must act now to turn these statistics around."

Mr Armstrong said the theme of Farm Safety Week 2017 was ‘creating a resilient, safe and healthy ag community'.

“Having safety as a major aspect of the farm business will not only reduce risks to those who work and live on our farms, it will also improve our bottom line and create a resilient, safe and healthy ag community.

“We want to see every farm across Australia take steps to improve safety each and every day.”